Signal switch houses for railroads have been around for a long time. Such houses usually have stored therein electrical and/or electronic equipment and other electronic components such as for example relays for monitoring and regulating the operation of trains along railroad tracks to which such houses are adjacently located. Such switch houses are usually spaced anywhere from 3/4 to 11/2 miles all along the length of the railroad tracks. In essence, the equipment stored in the houses would provide wayside signals to the train, as for example red, yellow and green lights, so that the train engineer has some indication of the condition of the tracks down the line. Moreover, a switch house is usually located at each railroad crossing for providing warnings to traffic crossing the railroad tracks if a train is approaching.
The equipment stored inside each of these switch houses may vary, depending on the kinds of signals that are to be monitored and regulated. However, each of the equipment stored in each of the switch houses tends to be electrical or electronic in nature, and accordingly could be affected by power surges resulting from transients from the power line or lightnings that strike either the railroad tracks adjacent to the house or the house directly. And when the equipment malfunctions, the signals for regulating the movement of trains along the railroad tracks are disrupted.
It has been estimated that it costs a single railroad company thousands of dollars for each unscheduled train stop as the stoppage of one train tends to have a domino effect on all other trains along the same tracks. This is due to the fact when a train is stopped unexpectedly, the tracks would act as a shunt to prevent a proceed signal from being transmitted along the tracks to other switch houses. With the absence of the proceed signal, the equipment in the switch houses downstream or upstream of where the stopped train is would provide a caution yellow light or a stop red light to the train engineers at the other trains to warn them either to slow down or stop.
Prior to the instant invention, there has not been any reliable protection against power surges that may affect the performance of the electrical or electronic equipment in the switch houses. Thus, excessive lightning damage has been sustained by the train control equipment. Such damage not only means that the equipment has to be replaced, but more importantly it affects the operation of the trains along the tracks and therefore causes both inconvenience and a loss of money for the railroad companies.